Sound-reproducing disk record.



PATENTED OCT. 2, 1906.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.21,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 832,403. BATENTED OCT. 2, 1906.

' J. H. MILANS.

SOUND REPRODUGING DISK RECORD APPLICATION FILED APB.21, 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

wvamoz demonstrated that quite a perceptible and centermg-pm before referred to, owing to the fact that sa1d pin is entirely obscured by the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JOSEPH H. MILANS, WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF ,COLUMBIA.

SdUND-REPHODUCING DlSK RECORD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 'Oct. 2, 1906.

the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawln s.

.Fhis invention relates to im rovements in sound-reproducing disk recor s, and has for its primary object to overcome the disadvantages lnherent in the hit-and-miss idea invo ved in 'themanual application of, opaque disks ofthe character designated to a centering-p n or equivalent devlce carried by the rotating plat orm or record-support now imiversally employed in talking-machine structures'and the like.

Abundant experience has emphatically irksome inconvenience is encountered in the ,use of the opaque disks having but a small 0 eningor aperture 1n its center formed comp ementarytoand designed to snugly fit the body of the disk, and although of course said aperture occaslonally receives said pin imme dlately u on application of the disk it is more ire uent y the case that=-thebase of the disk str1 es the head of the inanywhere ap roximatmg the center of t e former, with the re sultant necessity of shifting the disk back and forth in various directions through the medium of the hands of the operator until the aperture fnore or less by chance is brou ht into registration with the pin and the disk lowered upon the platform and centered by said pin preparatory to thee agement of the reproducentherewith. Adidqfrom this annoyance, which obviously is the most striking objection to disks of the type just mentioned, it is also to be observed that in the course of an evening or similar period of time when a large number of records are played, and more especially insales departments or places of ublic amusement where records are constant y exhibited, quite a little immediateapplication of t time in the agggegate is consumed and lost owing to the a sence'of rovision enabling e disk to the centering-pm. v I

As stated, it is with a view to overcome all of the foregoing disadvantages afforded by tion has been devised, and in its generic sense the improvements reside in the provision of instrumentalities facilitating the manual application of a normally free sound-reproducing disk record, the main body of which is opaque, to the centering device or devices on platform or disk-support, it bemg the rotary noted that y the term norma y free I intend to differentiate disks applied and removed bythe hands of the operator in contradistinction to such disks as are used in magazine-machines and the like and shifted by the mechanism thereof from an inactive to an active position, or vice versa.

More s ecificall the. invention compre hends a disk having an o aque body portion and a centrally-dispose sight-opening or window, which may be in the nature of an 0 en space or transparent disk, or both, tl irou h which the centering pin or device may e clearly seen by the operator from above the record, said transparent disk or open space, or both, as the case may be, immedlately surrounding an opening or openings formed to correspond with and receive the centering device or devices on the record support or plat orm, vantage gamed by the formatlon of a disk record of this type, due'to the provisions enabling relatively constant observation of the centering device from above the record, being that said devices may be of non-circular or an gular contour or se arated and the receiving paxtions of the dis formed complementary thereto, whereby when they are brought into disks of the prior art that the present invena highly important adoperative relation a (positive drive of the rec- I ord maybe efiecte as compared with the friction-drive in machines now on the market, thus permitting me to dispense with felt or other frictional engaging surfaces usually carried upon the upper face of the recordsu orting frame or platform.

o perhaps more readily impartva clear and full understanding of the invention, I

have illustrated in the accompanying drawj IIO graphophone, showing the manner of applyin'g one ofmy improved disks thereto, the body of the disk being opaque and the centering portion thereof transparent and apertured, the centering-pin on the platform adapted to enter the aperture showing through said transparent portion. Fig. 2 is a face view of the disk record of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central transverse sectional view through Fig. 2. record constituting another embodiment of the invention, and this particular form, for

the purposes of the present a plication, I will style my preferred embodfnnent of the invention. Fig. 5 is a centraPtransverse sectional view through Fig. 4. Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5 of a third embodiment. of the invention. Figs. 8 and 9 and Figs. 10 and 11 are similar views of still further embodiments of the invention, and Figs. 12, 13, 14, and 15 are detail sectional views illustrative of different ways of securing the transparent disks or windows to the opaque record-disks.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in the several series of views of which like reference characters designate like features, and first with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A desi nates the body or box portion of the grapfiophone; B, the crank for Winding the motor therewithin; C, the rotatable record su port or platform actuated by the motor; D, t e usual felt or other frictional material secured to the upper face of said platform or support, and E represents the centering-pin adapted to engage an aperture in the record-diskto hold the same in roper position relative to and While engaged y the reproducer, (it being unnecessary to show or further refer to the latter herein.) F is a sound-reproducing disk record of the usual character havin a main body portion of opa ue materia in the upper surface of is provided the customary record comprising a spiral groove possessing a sinuous surface in accordance with the sounds desired to be reproduced incident to the rotation of the record and the engagement of the reproducer-dia hragm vibrating pin w th the groove. ithin these disks there 1's always a centrally-disposed part f, upon which a trade-name or title-bearing label is usually affixed. In kee in with my invention I utilize apart or ail of this central por tion for a sight-opening or window G, the latter being of transparent material, such as glass, celluloid,'or the like. This window as an aperture 9 for the reception of the centerlngin E and in this form is secured to the dis F through the medium of cemented interfitting flanges g at the adjoining ed es thereof. Preferably the lower surface of File window is flush with the bottom of the record-disk, so that the same may freely slide or shift over the centering-pin E, and

Fig. 4 is a face view of a' of securing the windows to the disks.

the flange on the periphery of the window underlies the flange of the record-disk, so

that in the application of the record to a machine the tendency is' always to keep the window in place rather than loosen it. In applying the disk-it is invariably the case that the central pr windowed portion thereof will be approximately centralized relative to the centering-pin, and such being the case the in E will at once be seen therethrough and its actual position positively located, Fig. 1, and it is simply necessary for the user to shift the aperture 9 over the disk and ermit the record to fall into engagement with the platform D.

Referring now to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that to the central portion of the record and in a suitable opening therewithin a spider H, preferably of metal, is secured, said spider in turn carrying a transparent disk I, provided with separated angular apertures '5, designed to engage correspondingly shaped and separated pins of a record support or platform, the lower ends of the apertures being rounded or flared, as at i, Fig. 5. By this particular arrangement an enlarged open space J is left around the window I, through which, as also through the window, the cen tering devices may be seen, as is obvious. The angularity of the pin-receiving recesses affords a fiat steady engagement between the record and its support, and this, together with their separated arrangement, secures a positive drive for the disk when placed in operative position upon a machine.

. The form shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is in all respects like that last considered, save that a single rounded aperturek is formed in the transparent disk or window K in the spider.

' In Figs. 8 and 9 a form of record is disclosed in which the transparent inner disk or shoulder Z of the record proper. Theopening for the centering device in this particular instance (designated at l) is ob ong and rounded at its ends as well as downwardly flaring, which also insures a positive drive.

The window M of Figs. 10 and 11 is rsecured to the record after the same manner as that of the form illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the difference between these twoembodiments being in the shape of the receivingaperture for the centeringin, which in the present instance is triangu ar,.as seen at m, and downwardly flaring, as in those previously pointed out.

The remaining figures'i 6., 12, 13, 14, and l5a're added to further discloseIwa s;

nt e first-named figure the edges 11. of the window N are beveled in a downward and outward direction to engage a corresponding undercut'edge of the record. In Figs. 13 and 14,

in which the Windows are res ectively desig nated O and P, the record is sffown as molded directly around said windows, the two being held together through the medium of different types of tongue-and-groove interfittings o p. In Fig. 15 the window Q is of uniform thickness throughout, and the edge of the record bordering the central opening thereof is molded around the peripheral portion of said window (indicated at g.) X

It is to be remembered that in all of the embodiments illustrated in thelast four figures the transparent central ortions are suitably apertured and tapered for the guidance and reception of centeringins or the like, and, further, that the recoi' proper of these, as also of the other figures in the case,

is o aque. I v rom the disclosures made herein itis apparent that the invention is susceptible of still other embodiments than those illus- 2 trated and also that. alterations and changes in the structural details set forth may be made without de arting from the spirit of the invention. or example, the transparent disks or windows and sight-openings have in each instance herein been illustrated as-circular, because it is believed that this is probably the most expedient and practical ormation thereof; but it is obvious that the contour may be chan ed as desired.

' Hereinafter in the ereto-appended claims I will refer to sight-openings, meaning thereby either the transparent window or disk or the unobstructed space, throu h either of which the centering-pin may e 40* "seen; also, where I refer to centeringdevice or pin it is by no means with the intention that this definition refers to the location of the device or pin, but rather the function thereof-i. 6., to fix or hold the record in a 1 5 prearranged and proper relation to the reproducing mechanism.

- Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

5o 1. As an article "of manufacture, a soundreproducin record-diskhaving an opaque body and a so having an aperture for a centering-pin, the apertured portion being adjoined y a sight-opening.

2. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducin record-disk having an opaque body and a so having an aperture for a centeringin, the apertured portion being substantia ly surrounded by a sight-opening.

3. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaque body and also having an a erture for-a centering-pin, and provided with a transparent window adj oinin said aperture;

4. As an artic e of manufacture, a souiid reproducing record-disk having an opaque body and also having an aperture for a centering-pin, and provided with a transparent Window surrounding said aperture.

5. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaque body and also having an aperture for a centering-pin, and provided with a transparent window adjoining said aperture, said wlndow being carried by the disk and bordered by an open space therebetween.

6. As an arti le of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaque body and also having an aperture fora centering-pin, and provided with a transparent window surrounding said aperture, said w1n' dow being carried by the disk and surround ed by an open space therebetween.

I -7. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducin record-disk having an opaque. body and a so having an aperture for a centering-pin, the apertured portion being surrounded by an open space through which the pin may be observed,

8. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducin record-disk having an opaque body and a so having an aperture for acentering-pin, the apertured 1portionhavmg an 0 en space through whic the pm may be oliserved. l 9 5- 9. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk, having an opa ue body, and provisions for engagement wit a centering device, in combination'w th further prbvision whereby said devlcemay be 100 observed through the disk.

10. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaque body, and a portion adapted to cooperate with a centering device, sa1d cooperating por- I o 5 tion being adj omed by a sight-openmg.

1 1. As an article .of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaque body, and a portion adapted to cooperate 'With a centering device, said cooperating no portion being substantially surrounded by a sight-opening.

12. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having an opaquec body and a separate transparentportion car- I r 5 ried thereby formed to cooperate with a centering device.

13. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record disk comprislngp an opaque body having a part of its inter or cut :20 away, and a separate transparent portion 1nserted therein and carried thereby formed to cooperate with a centering device.

14. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record disk' comprising an opaque body having a part ofits mt'er or cut away, and a separate transparent portion 1 nserted therein and carried thereby formed to cooperate with a pentering device, said I opaque bodyhaving an edge overlapping a complementaryedge carried by the opaque body to secure the parts in-place.

15. As an article of manufacture, asound-- reproducing record-disk comprisingan opaque body having a part of its interior cut secure the parts in place, and the latter edgebeing uppermost to oppose the tendency of the insert to loosen and separate during the application of. the disk to its support.

16 As anarticle. of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having its interior of open-work formation.

17. As an article of manufacture, a soundreproducing record-disk having its interior of open-work formation, said open-work formationhaving a part for engagement with a centering device.

18. As an article of manufacture, a sound reproducing record-disk having its interior of open-Work formation, said open work formation having an aperturedtdisk part for engagement with a centering device.

19. As an-article of manufacture, a sound-- reproducing disk record having a main body portion, a transparent portion apertured for.

engagement with a centering device, and a spider intermediate of and engaging said main body portion and the transparent por 

